Three Exciting Meetings Kick Off The New Year
By Clark Poppert, NAICC President
The 2023 NAICC Annual Meeting was held Jan. 26-28 in beautiful downtown Nashville, Tennessee, at the Omni Nashville. The site was only two blocks from the famed Broadway Street, which housed live bands up and down the bustling sidewalks. Great food was in abundance, and many landmarks were visited. Those included the Ryman Theater, Grand Ole Opry and Jack Daniel Distillery. The annual meeting was more than sightseeing. Sessions during the meeting focused on great topics. The meeting was separated into three tracks: one for consultants, one for contract researchers and one for quality assurance professionals.
The first sessions for consultants focused on carbon accumulation and sustainability. The speakers went into great detail explaining the subject of carbon accumulation in different soil types. This subject is in its infancy, and carbon storage in soils is a new path that needs to be investigated.
Later, the consultant track covered thresholds. The first session was a great revisit of why we use thresholds and why they are important in agriculture. This was a nice reminder of why they were developed and should be used. Another session covered developing thresholds for fungicides in corn and soybeans. This is such a tricky subject and not easily accomplished when looking at the variables included in this decision. Weather, variety, irrigation, planting dates and plant damage are all to be considered.
I spoke with researchers who said the sessions in their track were also very beneficial. Soil biome was the topic for one session, and emerging issues in row crop research and tree crop research were other topics during the week. Another session addressed “What is realistic in spraying and AI?” The pre-meeting’s efficacy workshop and good laboratory practices (GLP) training were high points, according to the researchers, and these are usually one of the favorites and most educational sessions offered.
The track for quality assurance professionals had interesting topics. One session compared and contrasted the EPA and the OECD regulations. The OECD regulations are followed outside the U.S. in countries such as Canada. The agriculture industry is changing so quickly that researchers and the EPA need to be on the same page. They are familiar with working together, but as time moves forward and technology continues to expand, teamwork is more important. Knowing what the EPA is allowing and how it wants it done is very important, and the session was very educational. The pre-meeting GLP training was a high point for attendees, and it is usually one of the favorites and most educational sessions that is offered.
NAICC celebrated its 45th anniversary in Nashville, and it was one for the record books. The Ag Pro Expo sold out, and it expanded into the main foyer. This year’s annual meeting had 827 attendees, which surpassed the old record of 772 in San Antonio in 2020. In each of the past five years, attendance has risen. The exception was 2021 when we were coming off of the pandemic and 538 attended in Orlando, Florida. The full-day Efficacy Research Training had 115 attendees, 54 attended the GAIAC/NAICC Biostimulants Workshop, and 152 attended the GLP training before the meeting.
Momentum For More Through 2023
NAICC began 2023 with a great start including 115 new members. We have a lot of plans for 2023. The Focus on Consulting workshop took place on Feb. 21-22, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Then, it’s on to Washington, D.C., where the executive board, the governmental affairs committee members and staff will canvas Capitol Hill and visit several federal agencies to discuss the farm bill as well as multiple regulations that are in the process of being implemented. We will conclude our trip with the 25th Annual Crawfish Boil on the Hill, March 22. NAICC is hard at work for its members.
